Whispers of an entrepreneur

According to Statistics South Africa the official unemployment rate in South Africa is 25.6%, a mammoth quarter of the economically active participants in our country. The rate among youth lies between 45% and 60%, depending on which source you consult. Low skills and lack of opportunities lie at the heart of this cancer affecting our young people. Numerous personalities indicate that entrepreneurship is a possible alleviator of this massive scourge on our youth. True as that may be, we need to take a long hard look at the reality before pushing for reforms with minimal chances for success. One of the most crucial resources an entrepreneur needs to have is a working knowledge and experience in the area in which he/she wants to start and grow a venture. Our youth currently does not have the required experience to go out and start businesses, they mostly lack the networks required to be secure deals and if they do, there is often lack of capacity to deliver on the contract. ...

It is the impetus of every entrepreneur since the beginning of time, to change the world, shaping and bettering it – all in pursuit of a particular dream or ideal. During the time of my forefathers, the desire for far off places, goods and news was one of the greatest conquests. After all,  Mfengu  people were among the first tribes to trade with the Europeans. The world must have been vast then – with new things at every turn. As Thomas Friedman once put it, ‘ the earth is flat’  now. Having a unique idea, the required capital to make it a reality and outpacing everyone in the market to make it a reality is so precarious – most of us have a better chance of being hit by lightning. It is important to remember, for every Mark  Zuckerberg , or alike entrepreneurial superstar, there are thousands of entrepreneurs who apparently did not make it to the level. These entrepreneurs are still and most importantly, pushing for an ideal, shaping a future and show...

The title is so cliché – mentioned my authors, writers, commentators and bloggers throughout the world – yet this short dictum bores the lifeblood and is the foreteller of business, economic progress and general development for humanity. As a Christian, my life is underpinned by my faith and understanding of the Word as given in the Holy Scriptures – if we look at Genesis 3 verse 17; God says to Adam , “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “ Cursed   is the ground   because of you; through painful toil   you will eat food from it all the days of your life….” Adam must have thought to himself – what now; the ground is cursed, hard and arid – to eat, will have to make a plan. This first necessity resulted in the development of tools – tools to tame the harsh land, to produce food and a livelihood for Adam and his family. As the generations have gone by, key points in history ...